Fertilizer distributor



July 8, 1 w. H. GIVENROD FERTILIZER DISTRIBUTOR 2 SHEETSSHEET 1 FiledJuly 19, 1949 INVENTOR. MLBUR/K H. GWEN/e00 772 mm W472 m M R 0 w A y 8,1952' w. H. GIVENROD 2,602,659

FERTILIZER DISTRIBUTOR Filed July 19, 1949 2 Sl-lEETS-SI-EET 2 29INVENTOR.

ATTORNEYS Patented July 8, 1952 UNITED f ST Application July 1}), 1949,Serial No. 105,561

invention rel-atesto fertilizer distributors.

Anirnportant object of the invention is to prode a fe ilizer di ri orhic m hav a very 10W rate of fertilizer discharge without clog.- ging,and which is readilyadjustable within wide limits to vary the rate ofdischarge.

A further obieetis to providea machine for aocurately distributing any;kind of. fertilizer material; whetheii' the materialbef l dry, Iwet,trashy or lumpy! r A further object of the invention is to provide meansto prevfnt the! improper discharge of the fertilizer from thedistributing shoe} A further obieot oi the. invention is to providedistributing unit wincnmayb built into the 'z'nachine or applied. to a lmachine, as an attachment. v

In the accompanying. drawings, forming a part oi this application, andwhich like numerals are employedto designate; like'parts throughoutthesamel v Figured is a front elevation of a machine embodying myinvention, I 1

Figure 2 is a plan view of the some, parts r ken way f Figure 3 s ver ial-secti n;tak n o l n H 1 F g re F ur l is a pl n, i w the n u a dadooiated elements, par-ts broiren ayvayr V Fi ure 5 is a, e 'ca ectionthrough one. of

the reed shoestakeri on line 55-45 or Figure '1; I Figure (i is ahorizontal section taken on line 5-5 of Figure 5, Fi ure 7 is a transree c ntr rti al e on a n hrou h the n t i ed pli ls s Q th a i b eedsearing.

Fi re 115 a si e. levation of soari g t in t e a box I Figure 9. enlared fron end. le e iv of on of the distributin In the drawings, the l9designates a long hopper or h ldin he nely. di ided fQ r' lizer materialor thdl ki 29: b? qifi lii l l i q- Th hopper tapers downwardlyiand has@PQU QQ H provided with spaced openin s 1?. TBS? hopper may be; equippedat its. topv withhill tfl QQYt l3. At its ends tho horror hearings ssecured thereto rotatably ren w n an axle l5, a ri d and driven bywheelst @914 wit rubber tires. The shait or axle I5 is rranged near bpaced above the bottom U and equipped with agitators: H... A iqll l'nlkl t I??? vided; including-spaced bags {3, the iorward ends of whichconverge andare pr ed at their for: War ldswit-h a hitch Z9191" site.Misfit V w s (01. 275 -2) the ton u and the h p er d; V ng d a onal bras q nnsqtmsi e were.

to the rear end of a tractor. posed forwardly of the hopper iii, at itslongie tudinal center, and is rigidly conneeted there; with y ny sitablea s h num ra ti desi at r ta dia onal brac onpso ps d s na es andhopper. I e The distributing unit compri a plate zfi, ar an e be ea thbottom H. Q be' ho r and extending; throughout its entire lengt I platehas openings 2 4 in registration with the openings 2. The m neral-2 5designates pl'ii rality of feed shoes, corresponding in and arrangementto the openings 24," andone opening 2;; discharges mm each" feed shoal,Each feed shoe comprises a sides 26, having reardepending' extensions"21 and a horizontal bottom 28..- The' bottom is pro vided near itsiorward disoharge'endwith openings 29. Arranged betweeneacl'ifpair ois-sides 2Eis an upstandi'ngien'dor wall 39 rigidly seciired to the sidesand closing. the rear end of thefeed shoe. The end 301 is providedat'its lower end with a horizontal extension 3.l,"spaoed ashort distancefrom the rear end of the bottom"28 for iorming a reduced passage. 32. ofthe several shoes are'welded or otherwise rigidly secured to the plate2,3, and the plate Z3 is welded or otherwise rigidly secured tofthebottoin H. The forward end of each horizontal distributing shoe is openandan anguiarly adjustable control plate or valve 33 is mounted betweenthe sides 25 and is pivotally connected at its top. with'the' sides by apin 34'. The lower end of the control plate or valve, in the lowermostposition, is at the elevation of the horizontal extension 3!. The sides26 are provided" with vertically spaced -aligned pairs of openings 35,for receiving a; long cotter'pin 36, arranged in advance of the controlplate orvalva'to limit its forward and outward movement. This cottermore may be 'inserted ih either pair of openings 35, or'it'rnay not beused at all. 'j

An endless distributor element is provided for each feed shoe, includinga pair of flexible end; less elements or sprocket chains dlf connectedby sweep rods 38. These sweep elemer' tsare spaced so that thefertilizer will not adhere to the same. The endless distributor elementincludes upper and lower horizontal runsg and the upper run operatesabove the bottom 23 and one tends forwardly and rearwardly beyondtheends of the feed shoe. The rear end of the endless distributor passesaboi t a pulley its, carriedb y h s ton gt ris. i

pair of Y spaced verti'oal.

T des- 1 a shaft 40, secured to the depending extensions 21. The forwardend of the endless distributor element passes about a pulley 4|, havingteeth 42, which engage between the sweep rods 38 to advance the endlessdistributor element. Arranged beneath the bottoms 28 of the distributorshoes and rigidly secured thereto by welding or the like is a horizontalangle iron 43, extending for the entire length of the plate 23. Thisangle iron has horizontal arms 44 rigidly secured thereto, projectingforwardly beyond the feed shoes and equipped with bearings 45 forrotatably holding a. horizontal transverse shaft 46, which is common toall pulleys 4|, which are rigidly mounted thereon. Two of the arms 44are arranged at the ends of the shaft 46, while two of them are disposednear the longitudinal center of this shaft.

The drive means for the shaft 46 includes a gear casing 41 rigidlymounted upon the tongue l8. An upper longitudinal shaft 48 is carried bythe gearcasing 41, which also carries a lower transverse horizontalshaft 49, extending at right angles to the shaft 48. The shaft 48 has ahelical worm 50 rigidly mounted thereon, and engaging a large worm gear5|, mounted upon the shaft 49. The shaft 49 is driven clockwise, Figure3, and its speed of rotation is greatly reduced by the worm gear drive.The numeral 55 designates a longitudinal drive shaft which is mountedwithin bearings 56, secured to the tongue l8. This drive shaft isconnected with a power take-off of the tractor. Variable speedv gearingis arranged between the shaft 55 and shaft 46. This variable speedgearing includes a pair of cone faced pulleys '51, which are adjustablyand removably mounted upon the shaft 55 and clamped thereto by bolts 58.This gearing further comprises a pair of cone faced pulleys 59, oflarger diameter than the pulleys 51, and adjustably and removablymounted upon the shaft 48 and clamped thereto by bolts 66. A taperedbelt 6| engages the pairs of cone faced pulleys. It is thus seen that byaxially adjusting the cone faced pulleys in each pair, their effectivediameter may be changed, thus altering the speed ratio. Further, thepairs of cone faced pulleys may be removed from their shafts andinterchanged, that is, the pulleys 59 may be applied to the shaft 55,and the pulleys 57 to the shaft 48. As more clearly shown in Figure 4, atransverse countershaft 66' is provided, mounted in suitable bearings onthe tongue IS. A small sprocket wheel 6| is rigidly mounted upon theshaft 66 in alignment with a large sprocket wheel 62 rigidly mountedupon the shaft 46. The sprocket wheels 6| and 62 are connected by asprocket chain 63. A large sprocket wheel 64 is rigidly mounted upon theshaft 66, in alignment with a small sprocket wheel 65 rigidly mountedupon the shaft 46. To change the gear ratio, the sprocket chain 63 isremoved from sprocket wheels 6| and 62 and applied to sprocket wheels 64and 65. A large sprocket wheel 66 is rigidly mounted upon the end of thecountershaft 69' and is engaged by a sprocket chain 61, engaging a smallsprocket wheel 68, rigidly mounted upon the shaft 49.

The operation of the machine is as follows:

The finely divided fertilizer material is held within the hopper l6 andwill drop freely through the openings l2 and 24 due to the action of theagitators H. The distributor is moved bodily forwardly by the tractor,and the longitudinal shaft 55 is driven by the power take-01f 0f thetractor and turns in the direction of its arrow. Rotation of the shaft55 is transmitted to the shaft 49, rotating clockwise. By adjustment ofthe variable speed gearing, including the cone faced pulleys 51 and 59,the shaft 48 will turn in the same direction with the shaft 55, at alower speed or at the same speed, and by interchanging the pairs of conefaced disc's'the shaft 48 may be driven at a higher speed than the shaft55. When the sprocket chain 63 engages sprocket wheels 6|. and 62, therotation of the shaft 46 is reduced, but by shifting the sprocket chain63 to the sprocket wheels 64 and 65 the rotation of the shaft 46 isincreased. The shaft 46 turns clockwise, Figure 6, and the upper run ofthe endless distributor element travels to the right toward the forwardopen end of the feed shoe. When the control plate or valve 33 is in thelowermost position, a contracted discharge passage is provided, toproduce the feed of the fertilizer, but the feed is increased by placingthe pin 36 in the next higheropening 35 or entirely removing the pin.The forwardly traveling fertilizer will then swing the control plate orvalve to the further open position. The sprocket chains and sweep rodsmovethe fertilizer material forwardly, and some of this fertilizermaterial discharges through the openings 29 and the remainder from theforward open end of the feed chute.

It is to be understood that the form of my invention herewith shown anddescribed is to be taken as a preferred example of the same and thatvarious changesin the shape, size and arrangement of parts may beresorted to without departing from the spirit of the invention or thescope of the subjoined claims.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. A fertilizer distributor, comprising a hopper having a bottomprovided with discharge openings, wheels to support the hopper, feedshoes arranged beneath the hopper and corresponding in number andarrangement to the openings, one opening discharging into each feedshoe, each feed shoe including upstanding sides, a substantiallyhorizontal bottom formed to define a plurality of discharge openingsbehind the forward edge and an upstanding end provided with asubstantially horizontal extension forming a restricted passage with thebottom, a transverse bar securedto the bottoms of the feed shoes, atransverse shaft disposed in advance of the feed shoes, supportingelements mounted upon the transverse bar and carrying the transverseshaft, a conveyor type endless distributor element for each feed shoeincluding an upper run arranged above the bottom of the feed shoe andpassing through the contracted passage, the endless distributor elementincluding spaced sweep bars, a rear rotatable element mounted upon eachshoe and engaged by the corresponding endless distributor element, arotatable element mounted upon the transverse shaft and engaging eachendless distributor element and having teeth to pass between the sweepbars.

2. In a fertilizer distributor of the type supported by ground engagingmeans the combination comprising a hopper having a bottom provided witha plurality of transversely aligned discharge openings; feed shoesarranged beneath the hopper bottom and corresponding in number andarrangement to the hopper discharge openin one opening discharging intoeach feed shoe; each feed shoe being defined by upstanding sides, asubstantially horizontal bottom and an upstand- 5 6 ing end; a feed shoeconveyor type endless disof said upstanding shoe sides for controllingthe tributor for conveying hopper discharge includdepth of materialcarried by said endless dising a lower run arranged beneath the bottomof tributor between the shoe sides. each feed shoe and an upper runarranged above WILBURN H. GIVENRO-D. the bottom of the feed shoe andbelow the up- 5 standing end; the endless distributor includingREFERENCES CITED p d sweep bars; a driven rotatable element Thefollowing references are of record in the mounted adjacent and below theopen end of file of t t each feed shoe having teeth engaging saidendless distributor for supporting and advancing the 10 UNITED STATESPATENTS same, a rear rotatable element mounted below Number Name Datethe bottom of said shoe and at least partially to 1,423,649 aniel July25, 1922 the rearward of said upstanding end support- 1,637,601 us yAug. 2, 1927 ing the endless distributor and guiding it from 1,394,003Segars 1933 the lower run into the upper run; and an ad- 15 ,4 ,646Klein May 2 1946 justable control plate positioned between each2,541,367 Givenrod Feb. 13,1951

